A variety of processes are used on production lines. Examples, include compression loading, such as fusion bonding processes, which may be performed on a plurality of point sites of, or discrete locations on, a workpiece/web material in a nip type process. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,854,984 and 4,919,738. A fusion bonding process, for example, may involve passing a workpiece, such as a thermoplastic dual-layer web material, through a nip defined by two rolls, wherein one roll is provided with a plurality of protuberances. By compressing the workpiece/web material at point sites between the rolls via the protuberances, friction bonds may be effected at those sites. That is, the material at each point site is caused to flow or melt. If the workpiece/web material comprises two or more layers, those layers may be caused to bond to one another at each site. In a production-type process, however, the precise load and gap that the workpiece/web material experiences typically cannot be accurately measured for several reasons, including but not limited to accuracy limits on pressure gauges, the inclusion of equipment inertial loads, vibrations of the equipment and the effect of those vibrations on the gap at the nip point, etc.
It would be desirable to have a press that can simulate processes at speeds that are in-line with current and actual production process speeds. It also would be desirable to have a press that can accurately measure what a workpiece or web material experiences during various production processes.